Various Group IIIA-Group VA compounds, such as gallium arsenide, boron nitride, and indium phosphide, are of commercial value to the semiconductor industry. These compounds are often produced by vacuum methods so as to accurately control the purity and stoichiometry of the resultant compounds. Among the most common vacuum methods are sputtering and chemical vapor deposition.
Recently, however, there has been great interest in producing the Group IIIA-Group VA compounds by other methods. Among these other methods is the use of organometallic chemistry to synthesize these compounds. One such organometallic chemical method is metathesis. Metathetical reactions are, of course, not new. For example, Gaul, Jr. U.S. Pat. No. 4,312,970, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein, teaches the preparation of silazane polymers by a metathetical reaction process.
Interrante et al. (DTIC Report No. AD-A169 482, May 9, 1986), the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein, teach the production of aluminum nitride powders and thin films via a metathetical reaction. In Interrante et al., trialkylaluminum compounds and ammonia are reacted to form a Lewis acid/Lewis base adduct which thereafter decomposes to aluminum nitride and a gas such as methane. From a practical standpoint, such a reaction is complicated by the use of pyrophoric trialkylaluminum compounds and the production of methane, a flammable gas.
Gaskill et al. (Appl. Phys. Lett., 48 (21), May 26, 1986), the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein, teach the preparation of gallium nitride films by the metathesis of trimethylgallium and hydrazine. The principal disadvantage of this process is that hydrazine is explosive and is best avoided if possible.
Others have disclosed the preparation of arsinogallanes. Among these are Pitt et al. (Organometallics, 5, p. 1266-1268 (1986)), Wells et al. (J. Chem. Soc., Chem. Commun., p. 487-488 (1986)) and Pitt et al. (Inorganic Chemistry, 25, pp. 2483-2484 (1986)), the disclosures of which are incorporated by reference herein. However, these references do not disclose how, or if, one skilled in the art could go from the arsinogallane to gallium arsenide.
Notwithstanding the above efforts, there remains a real need to synthesize Group IIIA-Group VA compounds by organometallic methods.
Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to synthesize Group IIIA-Group VA compounds by organometallic methods.
It is another object of the invention to synthesize Group IIIA-Group VA compounds by organometallic methods which are economical, feasible, and relatively safe.
These and other objects of the invention will become apparent after referring to the following description.